Friends, I’m sorry I’ve been so MIA on the blog, and even on Instagram, lately. I promise I have a good excuse… ;)

I’m thrilled and grateful to share that we are expecting a rainbow baby in February 2020!!

After losing our precious Felicity Emilia to miscarriage back in March, Dave and I knew we wanted to jump right back into trying to grow our family. Our doctors told us there was no reason to wait, and after a few months, we were deeply thankful to find out that our prayer for another baby had been answered. I do give our practice of Natural Family Planning (we use the Marquette Method and love it) a LOT of credit for how quickly we’ve been able to get pregnant each time, but also sincerely acknowledge that a lot of it is just a completely undeserved blessing. Much more so than when I was pregnant with Charlie, I’ve now walked, and am walking, with so many dear friends who are battling infertility. Through that, I vowed not to take a second of this, or any future, pregnancy for granted. If you’re personally struggling to get pregnant, please know you are in my prayers literally daily. Truly.

Here’s the update on what’s been going on so far, what’s on our minds, and everything else!

How far along are you?
11 1/2 weeks! I know it’s a bit on the early side to announce, but I’m already showing a little…a month earlier than with Charlie! I’ve also just been eager to share the news (and break my radio silence, ha!) ever since our last doctor’s appointment :)

How has the first trimester been?
Um, rough. Between 24-7 nausea, throwing up (I had never thrown up during a previous pregnancy!), intense food aversions, and major fatigue, this has definitely been my hardest first trimester I’ve had so far. Thankfully, the worst of it–when I could literally only stomach carbs and fruit, fell asleep for almost two hours every afternoon, and threw up the most often–only lasted from about weeks 6-9. All those symptoms are still around, but not in such an intense, all-consuming way. Moving my wakeup time from 6 to 7 has helped a little with the fatigue, but all my (admittedly very limited) creative energy has been going into work…hence, no personal blogging! I’m very hopeful that my energy will be back very soon…hopefully, along with my taste for Mexican food, which makes up at least half of our go-to dinner recipes.

What has it been like being pregnant after a miscarriage?
When we were trying to get pregnant again, I prayed a lot for protection from fear and anxiety whenever we were blessed with another baby. God has been so gracious to me, and I’m thankful to say that for the most part, my happiness about this baby has outweighed my fears. That said, there have still been moments when fear has consumed me–most notably, our first doctor’s appointment/ultrasound (I burst into tears as soon as I saw the ultrasound machine) and the whole eighth week (the week of pregnancy we lost Felicity). Overall, I think the biggest difference has been that I haven’t wanted to “get my hopes up” until the end of the first trimester. We had our second appointment and ultrasound last week, which was a turning point for me. While I know something could still happen at any time, I finally feel more reassured and comfortable thinking ahead and dreaming about this baby joining our family.

How did you tell Dave?
I took the test while Dave was at work on the Friday before Father’s Day. Conveniently, Charlie and I had picked up a Father’s Day card for him that day (featuring Paw Patrol, of all things!), so I filled it out and signed it “Love, Charlie, Felicity Emilia, and baby #3!!!” Charlie was all too enthusiastic to give it to Dave as soon as he walked in the door. For the first two pregnancies, I just blurted the news out to Dave without any fanfare, so it’s kind of fun to have a little keepsake from that moment this time around.

Does Charlie understand what’s going on?
We think so! He talks about how “there’s a baby in mama’s belly” and “baby peanut” (the nickname he finds HILARIOUS). Dave blesses Charlie and me with holy water every night and Charlie has been adding his own blessing for the baby, which is the sweetest thing ever. I can’t wait for him to feel the baby kick!

Are you going to find out the gender?
Yes!! We opted out of doing any first-trimester testing, so we’ll find out at our anatomy scan in mid-September. Dave and I both have a pretty strong feeling one particular way and I had a dream that was in line with that, but I’m notoriously terrible at guessing baby genders…feel free to comment with your prediction!

What have been your favorite first trimester products?
Rounding them up in a full post next week! In the meantime, you can look back on my first, second, and third trimester favorites with Charlie.

Are you going to deliver at UNC again?
We had a wonderful experience with the midwives at UNC and definitely recommend them! This time around, though, we switched to the midwives at Reply OB/GYN and will be using them for delivery at WakeMed Cary. The Reply mission is extremely aligned with our beliefs about the dignity of life from the moment of conception, the importance of truly understanding fertility, and so much more, and I couldn’t be more grateful to have this God-send of a facility so close to us. We went to them for my care during the miscarriage, and returning to them for prenatal care was a no-brainer. Plus, Cary is closer to our house than Chapel Hill, so that doesn’t hurt either :)

Will you be sharing about your pregnancy again?
I plan to! With Charlie, I did updates about once a month. I’m not sure I’ll do that again, but I’ll definitely share some reflections and favorite products for each trimester again, at a minimum. If there’s anything else you’d be interested in reading, please let me know!